Nortel Networks said today that it’s poised to deliver the industry’s first unified Virtual Private Network (VPN) platform with support for multiple operating systems, including Windows, Mac OS, Linux, Solaris, IBM-AIX and HP-UX. The VPN platform is called Contivity.
Virtual Private Networks have become popular for corporations that want their remote users to be able to connect securely to the company’s own network using the Internet. VPNs utilize encryption and other security measures to make sure only authorized users can access the network.
Nortel said that Contivity incorporates a full, unified feature set across each platform, requiring no VPN gateway upgrades. This enables seamless integration of virtually all remote users, according to the company.
Nortel Networks Vice President Scott McFeely said that Contivity VPN is a direct response to customer feedback. “In many companies, individual users with a Macintosh or UNIX operating system are excluded from simple, easy-to-use remote access to secure corporate networks,” said McFeely.
The client software for Macs is already available. Nortel expects Contivity for UNIX to be available by year-end.